A grand finale for Franklin's Feast of St. Rocco

Thursday

Aug 9, 2018 at 7:00 PMAug 10, 2018 at 2:43 PM

After 40 years, Franklin's popular Feast of St. Rocco - a celebration of Italian heritage and food - is coming to an end this weekend

FRANKLIN - In the office tucked into a corner of the barn on the grounds of the old St. Mary's School convent - headquarters for Franklin's Feast of St. Rocco for the past 40 years - it seemed like nothing had changed.

There was the usual coming and going - volunteers looking for a roll of yellow barrier tape, a screwdriver, some bottles of water.

And there was the usual teasing among the Feast's co-chairmen: Peter Brunelli, Mickey DeGrazia, Tom Olsen and Frank Fiorillo.

It had been this way for decades. And it felt the same this year as it always had in the days before the Feast of St. Rocco gets underway.

But it's not quite the same. Underneath the subtle - and not so subtle - jabbing, the inside jokes, and the fun-loving banter and laughter, there is a somber note to the mood.

The thought that, after 40 years, this Feast of St. Rocco would be the last one is not far from anyone's minds. It's the finale, the standing ovation, they say - they're going out while the getting out is still good.

Still, it wasn't easy as they got ready for this year's farewell festivities, which started Thursday night and go through Sunday.

"It came quick, and it feels different," conceded DeGrazia on Tuesday. "It's the last one."

Like his fellow chairmen, he has been involved in planning and setting up this annual celebration of Italian-American heritage and food for many years - an event that has drawn thousands to the town each August to enjoy food, music, and carnival rides and games.

With lifestyles having become so much busier - and, says Brunelli, so many of the younger generation of Italian Americans seeking their success away from their hometown - there is no one with the time to take over and keep the feast going.

"What we did," said DeGrazia, "it's been a great thing."

He's ready for a rest, yes, as are his fellow chairmen. "But the feeling is awful for me," he admitted. "It's tough."

The sentiment is a shared one.

"St. Rocco's ... it's something that's within you," confided Brunelli. "So this is like, a part of you is gone."

It's difficult, but Fiorelli is a bit more practical about it.

"I'm going to miss this group, but I'm not gonna miss the work," he said. "We're all getting older and our bodies are falling apart."

There will always be the memories, offered Olsen, and knowing that, together, they helped create something that has brought the community together and given many people their own special memories.

"We've had a lot of fun," he said. "But now, everybody's in a rush. That's the lifestyles of so many people now."

The nostalgia for past St. Rocco's feasts is to be expected.

"This all just makes me think of the 40 years. I remember the first one, the first Mass, when everybody came out of church and followed the statue (of St. Rocco) they carried all around the common," he said.

The Feast was conceived by the Rev. Michael Guarino, who was looking "to create a religious, social and cultural event in Franklin that followed the format of traditional Italian festivals," according to the St. Mary's website.

On a visit to the grounds of the St. Mary School convent the father found a statue of St. Rocco, the patron saint of healing, and he was inspired. The first Feast, with its festivities and its three Masses - one a healing Mass held outdoors at the fairgrounds - took place in 1978.

Brunelli and DeGrazia started out as the St. Rocco's "Calzone Kings." They made calzones from scratch in those days. Others contributed their own specialties, from pasta and "gravy" to Phyllis Vozzella's famous Italian tomato salad, to the DeBaggis familiy's sought-after cannolis and pastry lobster tails.

The co-chairmen weren't the only ones reminiscing this week as the final Feast arrived.

"As a kid, I thought it was so cool that Auggie DeBaggis and his sister and cousins got to stuff cannolis in the pastry booth, sometimes standing on milk crates until they were tall enough," said 25-year volunteer Jennie Coughlin, who now works the Stuffies and Sides booth with her parents, Paula and Alan, and two other families. "The past few years, it’s been their kids learning how to stuff cannolis the same way Vinnie DeBaggis, Auggie’s grandfather, taught them when they were young."

Lisa Oxford, a DeBaggis and a member of the St. Rocco's 40th Anniversary Committee, said running the pastry booth just made sense for her parents, Vinnie and Alma. The family owned and operated a local bakery for 60 years. Family members have run the pastry booth since the beginning, and this final year will be no exception.

"The Feast of St. Rocco has not only been a Franklin/St. Mary Parish tradition, it has also been a DeBaggis family tradition. Our children grew up coming to the festival and eventually volunteering, and they have continued the tradition with their families, with a fourth generation of the DeBaggis family now volunteering at the booth," Oxford said. "We have made many wonderful memories that we will always cherish."

Oxford and others say they'll miss the togetherness of volunteers and visitors.

"I'll miss seeing the many people that come by the booth to reminisce and visit, some of whom I only see this one time each year," Oxford said. "I know that this time next summer I may have the feeling that something is 'missing,' but I look forward to new traditions in the future."

Paula Coughlin, who works in the parish office and has been involved in St. Rocco's for 35 years, will also miss the gathering of the community.

"I guess my most cherished memories are of all the people that I have met whom I would never have gotten to know without my involvement in St. Rocco," she said.

Jennie Coughlin feels the same.

"Franklin and St. Mary’s have grown a lot over the years, and the parish is so large, it’s easy to go months without seeing people because they attend different Masses, or are active in different ministries," she said. "But for this one weekend every year, everybody is working together on this festival, either volunteering or coming to the field to enjoy the food, music and rides."

The chairmen agree, but they are hopeful there will be new traditions. And really, when it comes down to it, said Brunelli, "it was fun. Time flies when you're having fun. And that's what's important."